The many faces of cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP)
Christopher Kloth, Wolfgang Thaiss, Meinrad Beer, Hans Bösmüller, Karolin Baumgartner, Jan Fritz, Marius Horger
Abstract
Organizing pneumonia (OP) is interstitial pneumonia with an acute or subacute clinical course and a histological pattern compatible with acute lung injury. It usually arises after a recent infection of the peripheral bronchial system, whereby is called secondary OP. However, often OP arises with no recognizable cause for which it is called cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP). From a radiological standpoint, COP exhibits different imaging appearances and this review makes radiologists and clinicians familiar with the entire spectrum of expected disease findings. Successful interpretation of imaging is pertinent for a rapid diagnosis of COP and knowledge of the entire spectrum of imaging findings in COP is mandatory.